Parts of what is now thought of as Port Melbourne were once known as Fishermans Bend. The area west of Princes Pier and extending to the the arc of the Yarra River was generally known as Fishermans Bend (with various spellings), through most of the 20th century. Until the 1920s Port Melbourne residential development was […]
Main Content
Port & South
Parklets and picnics
Melbourne is opening up after several consecutive days of zero new cases of COVID-19 and zero new deaths. The ‘ring of steel’ has been dissolved and many people are getting out of town. The ‘gym’ under the overpass where we met boxer Cameron Ravendra Eyes has reverted to an empty place to walk through on […]
Yarra & Bay
Finding the River
Over the time of isolation, I have spent some time near the River and become preoccupied with our relationship to our Yarra River, known to the the Woi Wurrung (Wurundjeri) and the Boon wurrung as the Birrarung, the river of mists and shadows. So I have prepared a series of walking explorations to get to […]
Docklands & Southbank
Brick Wall
Even as we’ve returned to the lockdown from which we were tentatively emerging, the finishing touches are being applied to an old part of the city made anew. Recently, the scaffolding and hoardings were removed from the Flinders St extension west of Spencer St to reveal the heritage listed retaining wall. Every brick has been […]
Webb Dock & Port of Melbourne
The Port
On 6 October, the Port of Melbourne released the 2050 Port Development Strategy, a key focus of which is future planning for Webb Dock. ‘The development of a thriving port is never completed’ wrote J. B. O. Hosking, Chief Engineer of the Melbourne Harbor Trust in 1952 as he introduced the works around the Port […]
Parks & Urban Nature
Succession planting
The fatal yellow dot and formal notices appeared on the aged elms in Port Melbourne’s Railway Reserves last week announcing their imminent removal. No argument – the remaining trees in the avenue are in terminal decline. On Tuesday 28 July, the slow work of dismembering the trees, limb by limb, began. It will take a […]
History & Heritage
Brick Wall
Even as we’ve returned to the lockdown from which we were tentatively emerging, the finishing touches are being applied to an old part of the city made anew. Recently, the scaffolding and hoardings were removed from the Flinders St extension west of Spencer St to reveal the heritage listed retaining wall. Every brick has been […]
People making change
The mask makers
From midnight on the 22nd July, wearing a mask became compulsory in metropolitan Melbourne. Ahead of the deadline, queues formed outside Darn Cheap Fabrics – a store in Port Melbourne usually only frequented by fabric, trim and haberdashery aficionados. A rush on elastic led to a national shortage. The question of the day was ‘where […]